The Depressing Cycle of Racial Accusation
The arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. is about neither racial profiling nor playing the race card.
Slate.com, Thursday, July 23, 2009, at 3:31 PM ET
"... Last night even the president weighed in, saying police acted "stupidly" by arresting Gates. Strong words, but Obama in his typically diplomatic style was careful to say he couldn't tell what role race played in the incident. The president got it right: There's no plausible justification for the arrest. It was worse than stupid—it was abusive. And that raises the suspicion that it was racially motivated. But there's really no evidence that the police officer involved was a racist rather than a bully with a badge or a decent cop who made a bad call in the heat of the moment. ..."
For the rest of Ford's article, click here.
A New York Times Notable Book of the Year.
"A vigorous and long-overdue shake-up of the nation’s stale discourse on race . . . sharp, tightly argued, and delightfully contentious."--Orlando Patterson, The New York Times
"Crackles with insight and pierces the pieties of left and right . . . This history [of discrimination] only heightens the urgency of today's problems. . . . [A] passionate effort to redefine civil rights, brings a jolt of clarity."--The Washington Post
"Ford is bracing. . . . He takes dead aim at racial opportunists, opponents of affirmative action, multiculturalists, and the myriad rights organizations trying to hitch a ride on the successes of the black civil rights movement. . . . Best of all, he argues his humane, centrist position without apology or hesitation."--William Grimes, The Seattle Times
"Pragmatic . . . few would object to Ford's emphasis on the need for long-term solutions to persistent segregation and poverty."--The New Yorker
"A sharp, nuanced, yet stylish analysis . . . a superbly enlightening reflection on how America should confront its authentic legacy of racism . . . A sharp, nuanced yet stylish analysis."--The Philadelphia Inquirer
